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Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas, A-J Remembers column

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX)

June 09--Jack Kastman, born in Kansas City, has poured much of a lifetime into Lubbock.

Those who have seen the gently curving streets of the Melonie Park subdivision that he developed at the height of his career, know that he shaped portions of Lubbock literally. But in a figurative sense he helped shape the community itself in concert with reputed movers and shakers.

He says he's retired now, but semi-retired might be a better description of his active lifestyle.

Across the 65 years since 1953, Kastman has seen mountain tops with the inevitable valleys in between while living life in Lubbock.

After taking a scholarship to SMU from his basketball prowess during high school, he played four years at the college level, graduated, and began working on a master's degree at Texas Tech.

In his last year at Tech, he dropped his involvement in Air Force ROTC.

"They drafted me immediately," Kastman said.

He was sent to Germany between the Korean and Vietnam Wars, then came back to Lubbock to work in real estate, and found his particular calling in developing residential subdivisions.

"My first subdivision was called Kastman Heights, at 33rd and 32nd Streets, and between Louisville and Knoxville Avenues. My mother-in-law owned the five acres there, kept the 34th Street properties, and I developed and built FHA houses," he remembers.

Kastman, at age 33, was for a time the youngest man to have served on the Lubbock City Council. It was a job he kept from 1964 to 1968. However, Jim Granberry came to the city at age 32 and took away the record.

After his first subdivision, Kastman began developing the Caraway farm. "It went from 52nd Street to 58th Street," he said.

The next one was the most popular: Melonie Park, named for his daughter, Melonie Kastman, now living in California. It is located generally in an area from 61st Street to Loop 289, and from Indiana Avenue to Joliet Avenue.

A Lubbock mayor had commentary for that one:

"Dub Rogers said I was drunk when I laid that out -- the streets had a curve because of the lay of the land. It was the most popular one I ever did," he said.

Kastman donated land from Melonie Park to the Lubbock Parks and Recreations Department. He said it was named after his son, who was killed in 1965 in a horse accident, and is now the Bryan Kastman Park.

In recent years, American State Bank began a massive display of American flags in the park on the anniversaries of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

Kastman remembers developing additional land toward Quaker Avenue in partnership with Leroy Elmore. They donated land also that became Leroy Elmore Park.

"We sold it after we got it platted -- it was the Melonie Gardens that we developed," he said.

He remembers that a family disagreement threatened the development of another subdivision that he and Elmore and another partner wanted to do:

"There were six heirs to that estate, and all signed except one of the Farrers, who was living on the land and farming it. We went out there to talk to him to try to change his mind, and go on with it.

"I will never forget, Leroy said, 'You know, we're going to name this Farrer after your father.'

"We hadn't even talked about that. He said, 'OK, I will sign for that.'

"Tears were running down from his eyes. We named it Farrer Estates."

Kastman was at the height of his business career, but he had a continuing side interest through the years also. And that side interest was Lubbock:

"My first job was in 1958 -- I was chairman of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra," he said.

In 1961, he was appointed to the City's Zoning Board, and in 1962-63 was elected chairman of the Zoning Board. He served as president of the Lubbock Board of Realtors in 1963, and in 1970 was president of the newly formed Lubbock Apartment Association.

"I had some duplexes out in northeast Lubbock in one of my subdivisions," he said.

Then, disaster struck his business.

"I was developing too fast. I got into northeast Lubbock, and sales stopped after the tornado, Kastman said, "You couldn't sell those lots."

He had moved from First National bank for his business loans, to Citizens National Bank, at the urging of an SMU friend who had worked at First National, but then had moved to Citizens as president.

According to Kastman, he suffered the same fate that Homer Maxey did, which has been related in the book, "Broke Not Broken," by lawyer Broadus Spivey and author Jesse Sublett.

Citizens suddenly called his notes. "I had to sell everything I had," Kastman said.

He remembers, "I went to work for Asher Thompson at Investors Inc., and then at a Reed & Co. Insurance agency."

After five years, Kastman went into the insurance business on his own. "I had my own agency for over 30 years, and I built a real good agency."

He renewed his interest in community, also.

Kastman worked with the Boy Scouts, and in 1988 received the Silver Beaver Award, which was the highest honor in Scouting. He also served as president of the Lubbock Better Business Bureau.

Kastman married Gerry Meyers, who was in the jewelry business, and he went back to school to become a gemologist.

In recent years, he has served as ombudsman to three retirement homes -- Raider Ranch, Carillon and The Plaza.

He now lives in Orchard Park. "We bought this house in the Parade of Homes for 2010. We designed and built it. It was in the Parade because we bought the lot."

He is known as Jack Kastman everywhere, and uses that first name in all of his operations. He even tried to get the Department of Public Safety to recognize the name, but they wouldn't budge.

His actual birth name is John Alfred Charles Kastman, names that are a heritage from family. John was the name of an uncle, Alfred his father's name, Charles was the name of his grandfather, and they all had the Kastman last name. He simply took the first letter of each name and it came out "Jack."

Lubbock has and still does mean much to him. "I just love Lubbock," he said.

Kastman isn't even thinking about moving away from Lubbock, either now or in the future:

"Gerry and I have been married for 26 years. I want to stay right here. Gerry and I, we're going to Resthaven from here."